Last Minute Road Trips || Vanessa
He smiles brightly when the door opens, and she’s standing there, ready to go with him on his adventure. He nods, holding a hand out. “Alright. You can call when we get settled in the car, if you want. My parents just said to not get in trouble,” he says, shrugging. His parents seem to be letting him do whatever he wants recently, so long as it isn’t dangerous or life threatening. He thinks they’re just trying to keep him from getting more upset, but at least he can take trips when he needs to because of it. “Can you believe we’re going on a trip? I’m just, I’m really excited, Ottawa’s so great,” he says, walking with her to the car. He opens up the back, taking her bag and putting it over his. He shuts the back and goes up to the front, getting in and buckling.
“Ottawa. God, I’m so excited,” he says. He really is. He’s not used to staying away so long from Ottawa; he likes taking trips back home whenever he can, and he feels he lives in both countries, not just one. And what’s great about that is that he doesn’t have to spend too much money and can use the summer house. “It’ll probably be like 15 hours-ish, so like, yeah. How would you feel about missing like, two days of school? Unless you don’t want to miss any school. I understand if you don’t.”
She settled in the passenger seat and smiled, sending Fiona a quick text that she was leaving, she’d be back soon and she’d update frequently. The smile was still on her face, partly from her own excitement and partly because she loved how excited he was. It was cute, she thought, biting on her lip and putting her hair up in a bun, like she always did when she was going to be in the car for a long time. It felt a little bit weird to not be driving, to not be listening to Sexy’s engine and know exactly what buttons to push to get her favorite songs going. It was also going to be pretty weird not being in charge of the radio, because she lived by the rule, ‘driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole.’ And while she knew full well Riley’d let her pick the music, it wasn’t her car, it wasn’t her roadtrip, she wasn’t about to try and be the boss. It felt different, but she kinda liked it.
“I’m excited, too. And I don’t mind missing school at all,” she told him, grinning. School was…it was useless at this point. AP exams were over and there was nothing to do anymore. Especially considering she was in mostly AP classes. Sure, she had SAT’s later in the month, but she’d been studying all year, she could afford some down time with her boyfriend.
Last Minute Road Trips || Vanessa
He needs this get away. Everything is building up and everything is crashing down on him, and he’s barely keeping himself above the water. Getting away to Ottawa, so many hours away, he’ll forget everything that’s bothering him, even if only for a few days. And what makes the trip even better is that Vanessa said she’d come along with him. He would’ve felt guilty just leaving her in Lakeview, and he doesn’t think he would survive another week at home. He just wants a little bit of time to go back home, his real home, and just take a little break from everything going on.
Grabbing his bags, along with his passport, he says a quick goodbye before putting his things in his car. It’s a long drive to Ottawa, a little more than 15 hours, but it’s nice, in his opinion. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with a road trip. They’re always a lot of fun. He drives in the direction of Vanessa’s house, hoping she won’t mind the long trip they’re about to go on. She’d seemed excited before for the trip, but he doesn’t know how she’ll feel about a long hour trip.
When he pulls up to her house, he gets out and walks up the walkway to her front door, knocking lightly. He’s not sure if she’s told her dad about the trip or anything, but he just has to hope for the best.
She sits on the couch and gnaws on her bottom lip, wondering just how this is going to work. She’s leaving for a few days with him…to Canada. It’s not that she isn’t excited, she’s just…nervous. She’s left the country on her own before, of course she has. But she’s never done a road trip to Canada. Sure, she likes driving, sure, she likes road trips, but this…felt different. And she couldn’t explain why. Maybe it was because this was her first road trip with Riley; maybe it was because it was the first time she wasn’t driving for hours and hours and hours in her car. Whatever it was that kept her nerves wound up, she couldn’t place her finger on it and it bothered her even more than the fact that she was nervous to begin with. This was Riley for god’s sake. The love of her life and the guy she was pretty sure she was going to spend forever with. Nervousness had no business being in her system when he was involved.
The knock on the door jolted her from her thoughts and she grinned, grabbing her bag (as high maintenance as she is, she tends to pack light for road trips, because she knows better than most how tight spaces in a car can get) and going to answer it. When she saw him, the smile was automatic. “Hey,” she said, biting on her lip and walking outside, locking the door behind her. “Daddy’s at work, but he said to call him when we left, which I can do later.”
- Riley: You packed, babe?
- Vanessa: Yes and ready to go!
